Preliminary steps to appreciate the rightness of an action
Before people can intuitively appreciate the rightness of a certain action, they may need to take two preliminary steps. In particular, they may consider potential consequences of an action. For instance, a policy-maker may need to think about the impact of budget cuts on various social groups. Additionally, individuals need to examine their relationship with people who can be affected by a certain action or inaction. In some cases, they may pay more attention to the needs of individuals who they own a favor. When these two steps are taken, people can immediately evaluate a certain action from an ethical viewpoint.
The attributes of a morally good action
An action can be called morally good if fulfills two important requirements. In particular, it should produce positive effects or minimize harm done to other people. More importantly, this action has to be driven by the sense of duty (Prichard, 2015, p. 49). One should keep in mind that in this case, the duty is self-imposed. This obligation cannot be explained only by external factors such as existing social or legal norms. Additionally, this action should not be driven by selfish interests of a person. These are the main characteristics of a morally good action.
Moral duty and purpose
When a person acts out of duty, one cannot speak about a purpose. In this context, Harold Prichard defines purpose as “something the existence of which we desire” (49). Admittedly, this word purpose can be viewed as the direct result of an action which is motivated by duty. However, this goal should not be related to the selfish interests of a person. This is one of the aspects that should be taken into account. In turn, morally good actions can be driven by a motive. Harold Prichard (2015) notes that sense of duty can be viewed as a form of a motive. However, this self-imposed obligation has to be the only motive.
Moral and virtuous actions
There is a difference between a moral action and a virtuous action. In particular, a virtuous action is motivated by the desire to act in an ethical way. In turn, moral action is driven by the obligation. In the first case, a person may not feel obliged to act ethically. For example, this individual may donate some money to charitable organizations in order to help people who may be disadvantaged due to some reasons, but he/she may not feel obliged to donate this money. In the second case, an individual has a self-imposed duty to act ethically. He/she may believe that this duty is simply inevitable.
This is one of the distinctions that should be taken into account. One cannot speak about the obligation to act virtuously, because in some cases, different virtues can come in conflict with one another. For instance, it is possible to consider the conflict between courage and prudence.
The goals of moral philosophy
Overall, in Harold Prichard’s view, moral philosophy must not prove that a person has to fulfill his/her ethical obligations. This is one of the tasks that have been recognized by many philosophers such as Aristotle or Plato. The main problem is that a person can rely on intuition in order to evaluate his/her obligations. Moreover, the ideas derived through intuition cannot be proven empirically or logically. Instead, philosophy should demonstrate how people form their knowledge of moral goodness. In addition to that, one should show how people evaluate different virtues and their applicability to various situations.
Reference
Prichard, H. (2015) Does Moral Philosophy Rest on a Mistake? In O. Roca & M. Schuh (Eds.), An Examined Life: Critical Thinking and Ethics (pp. 46-53). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. Web.